This invention relates generally to computer displays and more particularly to providing control of background video.
Computers are known to include a central processing unit, cache memory, hard drive memory, floppy disk drive memory, CD ROM drive, audio processing circuitry, and video processing circuitry. The computer further includes a computer monitor which provides visual representations of the data being manipulated. Such visual representations are originated from, for example, a word processing algorithm, a drawing algorithm, and, more recently, the displaying of video images. Such video images may be received from a live television broadcast, video cassette player, satellite television, cable television, or DVD players.
The displaying of live video on a computer monitor may be done in several ways. A first displaying approach is to have the live video being displayed in the entire display area of the computer monitor. As such, the computer is acting very much like a television where the only service that is being provided is the displaying of the live video. Alternatively, the live video may be presented in a window of the computer screen while other applications are running. As another alternative, the live video may be in the background of the computer screen.
In the background mode, the live video is acting as the desktop pattern. In this mode, when any attribute of the live video is to be changed, the background video must be brought forward, or brought into focus. Attributes of the live video include changing the channel, volume adjust, muting, selecting a previous channel, etc. Once the live video has been brought forward, such attributes may be changed through any graphical user interfaces.
When an attribute of the live video is to be changed, other applications that were in focus (i.e., actively being displayed and/or being worked upon) must go into a background mode (i.e., taken out of focus). As such, the adjusting of attributes of the live video consume the activity of the computer until such attributes have been changed and the live video is returned to the background mode. As one can readily appreciate, this can be somewhat burdensome to the user and is an ineffective use of the computer system.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus for providing control of background video while the video remains in the background.